Current Cariboo North MLA Coralee ended a couple of weeks of speculation today by announcing that her name will be on the ballot for the October 17th provincial election.
Oakes won’t be representing the BC United Party however. She will be running as an Independent in the Prince George-North Cariboo riding.
“I think it provides incredible opportunity, and of course I didn’t come to this conclusion quickly. I think it took a lot of conversations with a lot of different people on what really the opportunities are with running as an Independent. You have obviously the freedom to focus entirely on the needs of the region without being tied to a party platform. It’s also a chance to bring really fresh independent perspective to legislature and to work collaboratively across party lines. I think in a divided legislature having an independent voice has the potential to hold very real power because I think voting as an independent could be that critical decision maker that means we have a real unique opportunity to shape the future of this province. I am ready to work with anyone from any party to bring fourth the best solutions for our community, for our region and for our province.”
Oakes added she made her decision after listening closely to the concerns of constituents and her campaign team.
“What I’ve heard when I have been out in the community over the last two weeks is that many people felt that they didn’t know where they could put their vote, folks that are more moderate in the center, were really concerned about this upcoming election, which helped really clarify my decision to put my name forward.”
Oakes also mentioned she was asked to run for the BC United Party.
“Yes the BC United did ask me if I would put my name forward and I am a very loyal person, but my first loyalty will always be to the people of this region. That will never change and that is why I made the decision to run as an Independent.”
She added there are a couple of reasons that the decision took two weeks to make after BC United Leader Kevin Falcon made the decision not to run candidates in this election.
“I think it’s two fold. First, from the constituent perspective, one of the things that is very clear is that there needs to be some form of consistency, specifically in helping the most complex constituent files, and my fear is that the government has not provided that clear point of contact where constituents can go while there is that transition period. On the Elections BC side, this has definitely been something that Elections BC has never had to manage through and they’ve brought on lawyers and they are looking through how to move forward, so that has certainly also added to some of the complications. My nomination package was in process when all of this happened so it was a wait and see to know what my name would actually look like on the ballot, I do know what that looks like now. It is an Independent candidate but it’s what Elections BC calls an unattached candidate.”
Oakes was first elected in 2013 and also won in 2017 and 2020.
Also on the ballot at this point will be Conservative candidate Sheldon Clare and Green Party candidate Randy Thompson.
– with files from George Henderson, My Cariboo Now staff
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